Latest news with #sales
The Guardian
11 hours ago
- Business
- The Guardian
A good deal or a good deal of waste? How to be more conscious about your consumption during sales periods
Whether the discount is offered on social media, via email or in a banner on your favourite website, if a business you've ever been a patron of is having a sale you can be sure they'll find a way to tell you. 'Temporary sales events are aimed at leveraging FOMO,' says Jason Pallant, a senior lecturer in marketing at RMIT University. 'The idea is to make consumers feel like they will miss out on a great bargain if they don't buy something right away.' While it can feel good to click 'buy now' in the moment, ending up with piles of barely used impulse purchases leads to a particular kind of shame, regret (and clutter). With the end-of-financial-year sales period upon us, here are some strategies to ensure you are being conscious about your on-sale consumption. Believe it or not, our brains are wired to encourage us to buy things at a reduced price, especially when there is a sense of urgency – ie during sales and promotions. Cathrine Jansson-Boyd, a professor of consumer psychology at Anglia Ruskin University, says this is because of three things. 'When we see a price tag that we perceive as a good deal, the part of our brains that deals with pleasure is activated,' she says. Then, when we make a purchase, we get a dopamine hit that makes us feel good and, finally, when there is a time limit on the availability of the discounted price, it triggers heightened adrenaline. This combination means sales shopping can make people 'feel giddy with excitement'. Being aware of this dynamic and recognising it when temptation arises is the first step to exercising self-control and resisting the urge to make an impulse purchase. The second step is to take 'a calm pause between looking at an item and purchasing', says Dr Kate Luckins, the author of Live More With Less. This should help to 'counter the frenzy of the sale'. If you're shopping in store, one way to do this is by holding on to the item while you continue browsing and delay heading to the checkout. Or, if you're shopping online, stand up and walk away from your computer or put down your phone and do something else to see if the shine of the product wears off. Alternatively, sleep on it. 'In that pause, you will either obsess over the item you're considering, or you will move on and forget about it,' Luckins says. So as not to miss out on the savings promotional periods offer, Stephanie Atto from Australian Consumer and Retail Studies recommends keeping a list of products you are looking to buy and sticking to the list during sales periods. 'To resist sales pressures, consumers should focus on being informed and assertive,' she says. 'Be prepared by understanding your needs, doing your research and setting a budget.' The popularity of this strategy is borne out by data. Pallant says the increased frequency of sales periods has trained consumers to wait to make purchases. 'A recent shopper survey from Mailchimp suggests 76% of consumers use these events to buy products they were planning to buy anyway.' Although it might feel like being increasingly online gives retailers an advantage, Pallant suggests inverting this dynamic by keeping track of what you want to buy, what a good price is and gathering your own data. 'Do your research about how often these brands or products go on sale and what a good discount really is,' he says. 'There are so many sales events now that if you miss out on one, you might only have to wait a couple of weeks for another.' Given the frequency of email and social media marketing, you can do yourself a favour ahead of time by 'setting tech limits', Atto says. This can be as simple as running through your inbox and unsubscribing from brands and retailers that always seem to be communicating promotions, or unfollowing social media accounts that do the same. As the designer and poet William Morris said: 'Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.' Regardless of how much your dopamine-hungry brain is calculating you will save with the purchase of an item, once you've bought it, it's yours – so it's worth assessing whether it is a good investment. Try exercising some reverse Marie Kondo (the decluttering expert) and ask before the purchase: Does this item truly bring me joy? In six months, when I am cleaning out my cupboards, is its quality so good that I will still be proud to own it? The flip side of this is that shopping on sale can be an opportunity to buy something of beautiful quality or craftsmanship that might normally be out of your budget. 'Buying one piece or product we love rather than a bunch we kind of like at a discount is much more satisfying in the long term,' Luckins says. If you're having trouble using the form, click here. Read terms of service here.
Associated Press
15 hours ago
- Business
- Associated Press
Leads-Sniper.com Introduces Updated Web-Scraping Suite for Data-Driven Lead Generation
Web Scraping Tools has released an updated set of web-scraping tools designed to help organizations collect publicly available business information from widely used online sources. The new release focuses on streamlining data extraction from Google Maps, Google Search, Yellow Pages directories, and business domains, giving sales and research teams a structured way to build prospect lists without manual copying. Key Components of the Updated Suite Focus on Responsible Data Use - emphasises that its tools are intended for collecting information already available in the public domain. The platform encourages users to follow applicable data-privacy regulations and best practices when storing, processing, or contacting individuals and businesses. 'Our goal is to reduce the time teams spend on repetitive data collection so they can concentrate on higher-value tasks such as analysis and relationship building,' a Leads-Sniper spokesperson said. 'These updates reflect feedback from users who need reliable, structured data delivered in an efficient manner.' Supporting a Range of Business Functions - Organisations employ web-scraped data for tasks such as territory planning, competitive mapping, supplier research, and targeted outreach. By automating extraction from familiar online properties, aims to give small firms and larger enterprises a consistent, reproducible workflow for assembling lead lists and monitoring market segments. About develops web-scraping software that helps businesses gather publicly available contact and market information for sales, research, and analysis purposes. The company's tools retrieve data from search engines, online directories, and domain-based sources, providing users with structured output for downstream use in CRM, analytics, or marketing platforms. For additional details on the latest release, visit or contact [email protected] Media Contact Company Name: Leads Sniper Contact Person: Sabrina Garret Email: Send Email Country: HongKong Website: Source: PRBoost
Forbes
a day ago
- Business
- Forbes
Sales Is Not A Department—It's A Mindset
Venkat Rao: VP and Country Head—Asia-Pac & Japan at Pitney Bowes | Stanford Seed Consultant. In our current hyperconnected and experience-driven economy, the boundaries of functions inside organizations are blurring—especially when it comes to customer engagement. There was an era where 'sales' belonged to a particular department. But that's not always the reality anymore. I've noticed that successful companies today treat every employee as a contributor to sales, because every interaction shapes the customer experience—and the ultimate driver of growth is the customer experience. The New Sales Reality Modern buyers are often well informed and selective, and they have more experience searching than ever before. The decision-making process to engage, buy or renew is not just shaped by a pitch or demo, but also by factors like: • Intuitiveness of the product (the responsibility of the product team) • Ease of managing billing issues (responsibility of the finance team) • How thoughtfully a support agent responds (responsibility of the customer success team) • Streamlined onboarding processes (responsibility of the operations team) And for attracting new employees, even how brand-aligned the hiring process feels (a responsibility of the HR team) makes a difference. In this reality, sales becomes everyone's job—because everyone is selling trust and not because everyone is selling product. Why It Matters Customers don't experience your company through silos. The experience is holistic, meaning a missed delivery or a delayed or inaccurate invoice can directly impact the customer perception as much as a missed sales follow-up. It is a brand promise built or broken. Alignment often improves when all functions have a common understanding of the customer journey. Product prioritizes what matters most. Finance communicates with empathy. Support feels empowered. Consistent, cohesive customer outcomes are often a result of cross-functional clarity. I've found the more agile and resilient teams are often those that embrace a customer-first, sales-minded culture. These teams anticipate customer needs, proactively solving problems and championing customer impact. They are seldom seen waiting for escalations. The Sales Mindset: How To Make It Real Across The Organization Culture cascades from the top. Executives and managers must model the mindset. The voice of clients (VOC) should be discussed in every meeting and show up in client calls. Don't limit customer insights to the sales and support teams. Client metrics like net promoter scores (NPS), customer journey maps and client testimonials should be shared across various functions and audiences. Let engineers hear the voice of the customer. Let finance understand how their timelines impact retention. Articulate the role of individuals and various functions in the bigger picture. Not everyone needs to know sales techniques—but everyone can benefit from training in active listening, clear communication and emotional intelligence. These 'soft skills' are now hard requirements in customer-driven organizations. Customer experience KPIs should be embedded across departments. Here are some examples: • Product: Percent of roadmap linked to client feedback • Finance: Billing issue resolution time • HR: Employee engagement tied to customer impact Celebrate moments when someone outside the sales team made a difference. For example, the development team can show enthusiasm for a client pitch about product features. Culture is built through recognition—and this is particularly important for the leadership team. The Outcome: Customer-Led Growth Organizations that make 'everyone is in sales' more than a slogan could see powerful results, such as increased loyalty and advocacy and more collaborative and purpose-driven teams as up-selling, cross-selling and renewal becomes the order of the day. In summary, it's trust—not transactions—that define sales. And every interaction has the power to reinforce or build the trust—whether that interaction is with a customer, prospect or partner. So, the point to ponder is: Does our organization simply have a sales department, or is sales a companywide mindset? Because in this era, every interaction counts. Every employee matters. And every employee, in one way or another, is in sales. Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?
Gizmodo
a day ago
- Automotive
- Gizmodo
As Tesla Sales Plummet in the U.S. and Europe, Elon Reportedly Fires His Top Salesman
Elon Musk has fired Omead Afshar, the head of Tesla's sales and manufacturing operations in North America and Europe, multiple outlets reported Thursday. The apparent expulsion of the top exec comes as the billionaire's car company flounders under plummeting sales in both the U.S. and the EU. Afshar, who was considered one of the more senior executives at the company, reported directly to Musk and has also worked at Musk's rocket company, SpaceX. On Thursday, Bloomberg reported that Afshar had 'left' the company, but did not provide details about why. Not long afterward, Forbes reported that Afshar had been let go by Musk, citing sources with knowledge of the situation. CNBC later claimed to have confirmed the news. Gizmodo reached out to Tesla for more information. The circumstances surrounding Afshar's departure are unclear (and, again, the company hasn't confirmed his termination yet), though there are plenty of reasons why Musk might be angry about his company's sales operations. In recent months, the number of people buying Musk's cars has continued to drop at a staggering rate. In April, Automotive News reported that Tesla sales had fallen 16 percent in the U.S., year-over-year. On Wednesday, Cox Automotive, which provides car dealerships with business intelligence, projected that Tesla sales were expected to dip another 21 percent during this quarter. Tesla has also seen humiliating losses across Europe. On Wednesday, the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association reported that sales of Teslas in 30 European countries had fallen 28% in May. That continues a trend that has been building for some time. Throughout the first part of this year, sales of the car dropped by double digits throughout the continent—a cratering that represents the single biggest sales decline in the company's history. Ironically, many onlookers have attributed Tesla's struggles to Musk himself, whose political activities—in both the U.S. and Europe—have angered lots of people and inspired hatred against him and his companies. Specifically, Musk's role in DOGE, the Trump administration initiative to shrink the federal government, as well as his meddling in European politics, have put a target on his (and Tesla's) back. In the U.S., the #TeslaTakedown protest movement saw thousands of Americans take to the streets to denounce Musk's role in the White House, while in Europe, protests against Musk have also taken place. There are, of course, other potential factors in Tesla's plummeting sales numbers. In Europe, increased competition from Chinese manufacturers and newer EV brands means trouble for the company. It's a more EV-saturated market in Europe these days than when Tesla originally got into the game, and, with more choices, there are more opportunities for customers to say 'no thanks' to the billionaire's brand.
Forbes
a day ago
- Business
- Forbes
How To Make Manufacturing Jobs Great Again
My 19-year-old nephew Evan Craig has always had a big personality. He's voluble and super-charming. So I always thought he'd be successful in business. This summer, after completing his first year at ASU (#1 in innovation, he's fond of reminding me), he took a job with a fraternity brother selling pest control services door-to-door in a suburb of L.A. Then he took a break for a planned vacation with the whole family: a cruise of the Greek Islands on the Celebrity Infinity. But in a vivid illustration of how you can take the boy out of pest control but you can't take pest control out of the boy, he made his way to the ship's bridge and tried to sell pest control services to the captain. It went something like this: Evan: Captain Christos, my name is Evan and I'm with a local hybrid service called White Knight. I don't know if you speak regularly with other Captains of the Celebrity fleet, but I'm already taking care of Captain Tasos of Celebrity Edge and Captain Theo on Celebrity Millennium. Captain Christos: What? Evan: So they've been seeing a lot of ants in staterooms, mosquitoes by the pool deck, and spiders on the bridge. The first thing we're doing for them is knocking those guys down then leaving a product up there so they don't come back. Next thing I'm doing is down here at the base. You see these cracks and crevices? Those are highways for the ants and earwigs to crawl into the wall voids and nest and breed. I'm sealing those off with a 3x3 foot power spray. Captain Christos was impressed, although not enough to entrust his floating resort to Evan's 'local hybrid service.' But all is not lost. Evan's already convinced a host of Southern California homeowners to entrust him with their pest control needs and is on his way to making tens of thousands of dollars this summer. Which got me thinking: how is it that an charismatic 19-year-old can make this kind of money selling services when he'd only make a fraction of that amount if he'd taken a job actually making something? It's easy to understand why the Trump Administration is prioritizing manufacturing. Thousands of small communities whose economies once revolved around plants have deteriorated to depression, drugs, and dollar stores. Occam's Razor suggests restoring the plants as the straightest line to making these towns great again. This is the logic behind President Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariffs on all imported goods, propelling dozens of countries into frantic negotiations and – eight weeks later – a federal court injunction blocking them for the time being. Undaunted, the President's principal trade adviser, Peter Navarro, continues to claim Trump's tariffs will 'fill up all of the half-empty factories.' While these measures to revive manufacturing have gone well beyond prior Administrations (and perhaps beyond the pale), the impulse hasn't changed. As the Progressive Policy Institute's Will Marshall noted in The Hill, 'our two oldest presidents… both [of whom] But as Matt Stewart, CEO of supply chain and procurement tech services provider RiseNow, pointed out in The Hill, manufacturing isn't what it used to be. (Disclosure: RiseNow is an Achieve Partners portfolio company.) Automation has made manufacturing so efficient that it's shrunk as a percentage of GDP and workforce pretty much everywhere, even China and India; over the past decade China lost 20M manufacturing jobs. In America, fewer than 1 in 25 workers can be found on a factory floor. Further stymying manufacturing's renaissance is that plant work isn't just dirty and physically demanding – albeit less than in prior generations – but also relatively low-paying with limited career prospects. Back in the '50s, the great thing about manufacturing jobs was that they paid relatively well without requiring education or training. Even high school dropouts could get a job on the line. Manufacturing was a welcoming, friction-free path to the middle class. But seven decades on, neither condition appears to be true. First, the manufacturing wage premium has disappeared. A recent Federal Reserve paper found that over the past thirty years factory workers have experienced a relative wage decline and now earn less than comparable non-manufacturing workers. That's average wage, including those who've been on the job for decades. An Indeed scan of entry-level wages for manufacturing positions like production worker or line worker shows $14-20 per hour (variations by region per cost of living) or the same range as frontline service jobs. In cautious government-ese, Fed researchers conclude that 'the conventional wisdom that manufacturing jobs are 'good jobs' is less true than it used to be.' Second, fewer manufacturing positions are open to all. Many now involve managing advanced machines and automated systems. Manufacturing job descriptions increasingly demand degrees, certifications, and prior experience. As a result, The Economist concludes that the most similar work to the open manufacturing jobs of the 1970s isn't found in factories, but rather security jobs like TSA agents and mall cops. To which I'd add door-to-door pest control sales. These factors explain why the number of open, unfilled manufacturing jobs is approaching 500K – a number likely to get worse before it gets better given the new Administration's equal fervor for workplace raids and deportations. And why a recent Progressive Policy Institute poll found only 13% of parents picking manufacturing as the sector with the best career opportunities for their children vs. 44% selecting higher income communications/digital economy roles. While most of America's manufacturing woes are a result of competition from China's low-wage, government-subsidized factories, part of the problem is a talent gap. Does anyone here want these jobs? A few years ago I was at one of countless think-tank-convened meetings on America's talent gap. Across the table, a tech executive convincingly argued that one insurmountable barrier to reshoring semiconductor and integrated circuit board fabrication is the inability to compete for advanced degree graduates in computer science or engineering with software and tech services companies, which regularly pay a multiple more. Whereas a hardware company might offer a new Ph.D $150K or $200K to start, a software company (with much higher gross margins) can win the day with a $500K package including performance pay and equity. While China and Taiwan have similar challenges – one industry observer recently told the South China Morning Post that few engineering graduates want to devote themselves to semiconductors ('students are quite realistic… the job is too hard and not that well paid') – relatively fewer software and tech services companies in those markets = less competition. But as Evan knows, in America services + software reign supreme. Which makes it difficult for chip manufacturing to compete. Or manufacturers of anything that can be shipped across borders. I searched Indeed for advanced manufacturing 'engineer' jobs and found base salaries of $90-150K i.e., a proposition which similarly qualified candidates for tech services and software jobs would find less compelling than a pest control pitch. Protectionism is taking a sledgehammer to America's manufacturing problem. Indiscriminate or so-called reciprocal tariffs have the potential to resuscitate factories, but with inflation and knock-on effects that make the benefits for protected sectors and workers seem as tiny as Evan's ants and spiders. A more surgical approach is to begin with the talent gap. Do you know who's willing to work in a factory for $20 an hour? 20-something career launchers whose only alternative is similarly remunerative frontline service jobs with little to no career progression beyond the store. In contrast, manufacturers have a wider range of professional positions on site or nearby (e.g., finance, HR, QA). So instead of overturning the economic order to rebuild Factorytown, why not start by making the manufacturing sector into a career launching pad? Here how Evan might sell it: If you buy this, you probably agree that $20/hr plant jobs could be attractive options for 18-20-year-olds currently navigating between the Scylla and Charybdis of College or Chipotle – or College + Pest Control or Chipotle. (But seriously, if you do buy this, send me your home address so I can forward the lead to Evan.) Contrary to conventional wisdom, manufacturing jobs aren't good jobs. But they can be good entry-level jobs. America has a large labor pool more than willing to work for reasonable wages as long as the jobs are easy to get out of school and offer a secure pathway to something better. That labor pool is floundering like never before and the level of investment required to tap it to bolster American manufacturing is a fraction of the cost of Trump's sledgehammer tariffs. By closing the talent gap we can address youth unemployment and underemployment while simultaneously providing a more competitive labor pool for American manufacturers. If we can reduce hiring friction and establish career pathways out of entry-level manufacturing positions, hundreds of thousands of 18-20-year-olds will enter the sector, learn to show up on time ready to work, and gain valuable experience. And if manufacturing becomes a popular path for career launch, we could see: I'm not saying that the way to compete with China's lower wages is via child labor. I'm not saying that because 18-20-year-olds aren't children. Our armed forces certainly don't think so. I am saying 18-20-year-olds can be more than college students and burrito makers. They can be America's most able-bodied, energetic workers. And if we invest in the requisite hiring, earn-and-learn, and career pathway infrastructure, everyone wins by employing career launchers to make stuff in addition to employing them to sell pest control services to homeowners and cruise ship captains. Once we've closed manufacturing's talent gap, we should consider surgical trade barriers for strategic sectors or sectors where it's impossible to compete due to unfair foreign subsidies. But there may be no need for broad-based tariffs. In fact, if we address the talent problem first, the primary negative knock-on effect of making manufacturing great again is likely to be on colleges and universities already in need of various local hybrid services.
